Shark attacks North Coast surfer; locked gate hinders rescue

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This Monday, Oct. 7, 2013, photo provided by Sunni Scrivner shows her husband Jay Scrivner at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Calif. A man bitten by a shark off the Northern California coast says he was having a great day of surfing when the great white came out of nowhere. Forty-five-year-old Jay Scrivner of Eureka tells The Associated Press in a phone interview from his hospital bed Monday that the nearly 10-foot-long shark bit his thigh and his board on Sunday as he surfed near Humboldt Bay close to Eureka. (AP Photo/Sunni Scrivner)

A man bitten by a shark while surfing Sunday near Eureka is expected to fully recover.

Jay Scrivner, 45, of Eureka told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his hospital bed on Monday that the nearly 10-foot shark bit his thigh and his board.

Samoa Peninsula Fire District Chief Dale Unea said the surfer was able to paddle to shore, and was alert and conscious when rescue crews arrived around 8:40 a.m. Sunday at the Bunkers area. Unea said other surfers stopped the bleeding with towels and kept the man warm. His injuries are considered minor.

A gate leading into the area was locked due to the government shutdown, but a Bureau of Land Management caretaker who lives nearby was able to open it.

“It took a little bit, but we got the gate open and were able to get to him,” Unea said.

Surfer Scott Stephens survived a shark attack in October at Bunkers, half a mile north of the mouth of Humboldt Bay. The nonprofit Shark Research Committee said it’s the fifth attack at the popular surf spot since 1993.